Pages

Monday, August 19, 2013

BETTY ZANE--MORE THAN JUST A POPCORN BRAND

By Laurie Kingery

For my blog this month I'm going to write about Betty Zane. I
had always thought of her as an Ohio
heroine—or at least, that's what my foggy memory from fourth grade Ohio history study told
me. But I'm always learning things from this Christian Fiction Historical
Society blog, even when I'm the one writing the blog. :) As I researched for this blog, I learned
that Betty Zane's heroism took place in West Virginia,
not Ohio—and of course it wasn't West Virgina
then, but the colony of Virginia.

Betty
Zane was born in 1760, the daughter of one of three Zane brothers who moved to
the new settlement of Wheeling on the Ohio River. This was an illegal move because this area
had been reserved as a royal colony for the natives. It was a dangerous area
with thick forests and hostile Indians. Betty was sent to Philadelphia
to finishing school but returned to Wheeling
in 1781. The British defeat at Yorktown took
place that same year, but the war was not formally over yet on the frontier due
to the Indians and Canadians.

On
Sept. 10, 1782, Ft.
Henry, of which Betty's brother
Silas was the commander, was besieged by Wyandot and Delaware Indians,
pro-British American loyalists and British Troops. Inside the fort, forty-seven
civilians tried desperately to hold them off until their supply of gunpowder
was exhausted. Her father was wounded and fell from the top of the fort right
beside her. Her brother remembered he had left a keg of gunpowder back in the
cabin, and Betty volunteered to go get it. "You have not one man to spare;
I can't fight, but I can fetch gunpowder for the defense of the fort," she
is quoted as having said.

She
ran to the cabin, some 60 yards outside the fort, much to the enemy's
amazement, and after pouring the gunpowder into her outstretched apron, ran
back to the fort. Realizing by now what she was doing, the British opened fire
on her but she managed to reach the safety of the fort without being hit,
though a bullet tore her dress. The British and their allies retreated two days
later. Two other girls, Molly Scott and Lydia Boggs, also later claimed to have
done the same, but Betty is generally given the credit, especially since a
collateral descendent, the famous writer Zane Gray, wrote a novel about her in
1903.

Betty
later moved to Martin's Ferry, Ohio, which is
perhaps why Ohio
claims her as her own. She was married twice, but prior to being married had an
out-of-wedlock baby whose father was compelled to deed land for the child. She
was married to John McGloughlin and had five daughters, then married Jacob
Clark and had two more children, a boy and a girl. She died on August 23, 1823,
and is buried in Walnut
Grove Cemetery
in Martin's Ferry. There is a large monument there to honor her.

Now
that you've read all the way to the end, I'll announce that it's my month to do
a giveaway. I will once again be offering my latest book out from Love Inspired
Historicals, HILL COUNTRY CATTLEMAN. However, if you're my winner and you have
already read this book, when I contact you we can discuss which other of my
books you might not have read and I will be happy to send you that one. J

43 comments:

It is so much fun reading this blog. Today was amazing. I had never heard of Betty Zane. Thanks for sharing her story. Stories like these are what makes reading fun! I'd love to be entered in the giveaway!tscmshupe [at] pemtel [dot] net

I had not heard this story before, My dad read lot of Zane Grey books too. what an amazing woman to be brave enough to do this in the heat of battle. It is good to see ya here Laurie..Paula O(kyflo130@yahoo.com)

This is the first I've heard of Betty Zane. She has a fascinating story and must have been a very brave woman to leave a besieged fort and run for supplies. I love reading about these little known characters in history.

Marlene, thanks for commenting. Yes, Zane Grey was a great and prolific writer. Do you read Louis L'amour too? I've discovered him this year--well, I always knew about him but just started reading his books since they're available on CD. Blessings, Laurie Kignery

I have never heard of Betty Zane or Betty Zane's Popcorn, but she was a brave woman. What she did was very dangerous and many men and women would not have offered for that position. I enjoyed the posting and thank you for sharing. Please enter me in the giveaway.Barbara Thompsonbarbmaci61(at)yahoo(dot)com

I've never heard of Betty Zane or the Popcorn, but have ready many, many Zane Grey books. He was one of the best, or might even say the best western writer.but then Louis l'amour might have beat him, but both great writers. Read bunches of his also. Love the movies made from his books. Read everyone I could get hold of. Had to get rid of a lot when my husband had cancer and we had to move to TX. near the children. So, sold those books and brought a high cost. This was in 1996. I would love to win one of your books Karen. Thanks to the Historical Society and you, Karen for this give-away. Please put my name in. MAXIE mac262(at)me(dot)com

I had never heard of Betty Zane but this was a very interesting post! I love learning random facts about history! I'd love to be entered in this awesome giveaway! I have read the first four books in this series and I currently have The Preacher's Bride waiting to be read (I'm going to be buddy reading it with someone) so I would love the chance to win this one! I love this series so much! Thanks!gatorade635(at)gmail(dot)com

Abbi, thanks for commenting. Thanks for reading the other books in my "Brides of Simpson Creek" series. Buddy-reading? Does this mean you both read the same title at the same time? Blessings, Laurie Kingery

Yeah it's a fun thing one of my Goodreads groups does. You find a book that both of you have to read and then we'll read half, discuss it, read the second half and discuss that. It's really cool since it gives you the chance to talk about the book with someone who knows what you're talking about and often they'll catch things you didn't and vice versa!

I think my Dad once owned every Zane Grey book, and I read them all, so I know that I read "Betty Zane", but I'd forgotten all about her. Thanks for the refresher! :)I'm guessing that Zanesville, OH was named for Betty's family. For 4 years I lived in Ohio and traveled through Zanesville on occasion.

Enjoyed reading about Betty since i have read all of Zane Grey's books. He had a cavbin near Payson, Az nearby where our summer cabin is located. During a forest fire a few years ago, it was destroyed. Interesting family. I understand Zane's son Loren also writes Western books.JWIsley(at)aol(dot)com

European Union Countries

This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services, to personalize ads and to analyze traffic. Information about your use of this site is shared with Google. By using this site, you agree to its use of cookies. Learn more here.

Mid-Month Madness

Coming May 15th

WINNERS!

********************APRIL WINNERS!

********************

Connie Porter Saunders won a copy of Daughters of Liberty by Joan Hochstetler

Caryl Kane and Connie Porter Saunders won a copy of The Chaplain's Daughter by Kathleen L Maher

Connie Tillman won an autographed copy of Sand Creek Serenade by Jennifer Uhlarik

CONGRATULATIONS!

GIVEAWAY RULES

Winners will be notified by email and the winners name will be announced in the days comments. No one under 18 can enter our give aways. No purchase is necessary.All winners have one week to claim their prize. USA shipping only. Offer void where prohibited. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants.

Blog Archive

GDPR and Cookies

This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services, to personalize ads and to analyze traffic. Information about your use of this site is shared with Google. By using this site, you agree to its use of cookies. Learn more here.